AG Linke

Lead:
Prof. Dr. Julia Linke

Research Group Leader LIR, Research group leader, Chair for Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience of Resilience (CPNR), Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz

Staff

Theresa Steffan, Wissenschaftsmanagerin | Kontakt: [email protected]

Emil Stobbe, Postdoktorand | Kontakt: [email protected]

Zeliha Sahintürk, Doktorandin | Kontakt: [email protected]

Research group description

Our research group aims to better understand the biological and psychological processes that promote resilience or maintain psychological distress. Building on this knowledge, we develop and evaluate accessible, scalable interventions to reach as many people as possible. We focus primarily on adolescents and young adults, as these developmental periods are particularly sensitive to stress but also offer important opportunities for prevention and change. Methodologically, our work integrates clinical and developmental psychology with modern cognitive neuroscience. We take an interdisciplinary, multimethod approach, combining large publicly available datasets with our own behavioral experiments and longitudinal studies, neuroimaging, psychophysiological measures, and assessments in everyday life. To analyze these data, we use advanced statistical methods, machine learning, and computational modeling.

Current research projects

Development and evaluation of evidence-based, low-threshold, and scalable interventions to promote resilience
Investigation of the role of internal world models as a resilience factor and a prevention target
Modeling resilience in the context of disadvantage and discrimination

External cooperation partners

Ilka Diester, Universität Freiburg, Deutschland
Hanna Keren, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Daniel S. Pine, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
Joel Stoddard, University of Colorado Denver, USA
Anderson Winkler, University of Texas Rio Grande, USA

Sponsorships

Key Publications

Linke JO, Naim R, Haller SP, Koshravi P, Scheinberg B, Byrne ME, Harrewijn A, Leibenluft E, Brotman MA, Winkler AM, Pine DS (2026) Reduced threat-related neural efficiency: a possible biomarker for pediatric anxiety disorders. Am J Psychiatry. doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20241043

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Brown BS, Nguyen L, Morales I, Cardinale EM, Tseng W-L, McKay CC, Kircanski K, Brotman MA, Pine DS, Leibenluft E, Linke JO (2025) Associations between neighborhood resources and youth’s response to reward omission in a task modeling negatively biased environments. J Am Acad Child AdolescPsychiatry. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.05.011

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Xu EP, Stange JP, Linke JO (2025) Network analysis suggest working memory as a key target for facilitating subjective well-being. J Affect Disord. doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120139

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Haller SP, Linke JO, Grassie HL, Jones EL, Pagliaccio D, Harrewijn A, White LK, Naim R, Abend R, Mallidi A, Berman E, Lewis KM, Kircanski K, Fox NA, Silverman WK, Kalin NH, Bar-haim Y, Brotman MA (2024) Normalization of Fronto-Parietal Activation by Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Unmedicated Pediatric Patients With Anxiety Disorders. Am J Psychiatry. doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20220449

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McKay CC, Scheinberg B, Xu EP, Kircanski K, Pine DS, Brotman MA, Leibenluft E, Linke JO (2024) Modeling Shared and Specific Variances of Irritability, Inattention and Hyperactivity Yields Novel Insights Into White Matter Perturbations. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.010

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Linke JO, Haller SP, Xu EP, Nguyen LT, Chue AE, Botz-Zapp C, Revzina O, Perlstein S, Ross AJ, Tseng W-L, Shaw P, Brotman MA, Pine DS, Gotts SJ, Leibenluft E, Kircanski K (2023) Persistent Frustration-Induced Reconfigurations of Brain Networks Predict Individual Differences in Irritability. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 62(6):684–695. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2022.11.009

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Linke JO, Abend R, Kircanski K, Clayton M, Stavish C, Benson B, Brotman MA, Renaud O, Smith SM, Nichols TE, Leibenluft E, Winkler A, Pine DS (2021) Shared and anxiety-specific pediatric psychopathology dimensions manifest distributed neural correlates. Biological Psychiatry. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.10.018

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